


Stay Close to Me (Count One, Two, Three)

by Chash



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Lilo & Stitch Fusion, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 22:43:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5603674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been a rough year, since their mother died and Bellamy got custody of his little sister. Their social worker suggests they could maybe get a dog, and Bellamy figures it couldn't hurt.</p>
<p>And it probably wouldn't, if Octavia had just gotten an actual dog, instead of whatever it is they end up with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay Close to Me (Count One, Two, Three)

**Author's Note:**

> Every time I finish a big project, I figure I'll take a break. It never seems to happen. Finally finishing this, which has been incomplete in my drafts since like April!

When Bellamy makes it to the school, Clarke Griffin is already sitting outside Principal Sydney's office with two cups of coffee.

He slumps down into the chair next to her, about ready to murder someone. "They called you?"

"They're concerned." She nudges one of the coffees at him. "It's my job, Bellamy."

"It's _my_ job," he says, knowing he sounds like a petulant child. He does at least take the drink. He needs it. "I'm her guardian."

Clarke looks straight ahead, which just makes it worse. He wanted to hate her, he really did. He managed it until about twenty minutes into her first home inspection, when she said, "Listen, Mr. Blake, we both want the same thing: we want what's best for Octavia. Your sister is my top priority."

He swallowed past a lump in his throat. "Call me Bellamy," was all he got out.

They're not friends, because Clarke's opinion on _what's best for Octavia_ might not involve him. In his worst moments, he thinks she might be right. 

But aside from that, he does like her.

"It's been less than a week since she last got called to the office," Clarke says, soft. "And you had to leave work again. There's no way your boss is happy with you. I don't want to say this is your last chance, Bellamy, but--"

"I know," he snaps. He rubs his hand over his face. "I got in fights all the time, you know. I was a dick. I was in here all the time. No one ever called child protective services on my mom."

"Octavia's been through a lot."

"And I'm unfit."

"You're, what, twenty-five?" asks Clarke. "You're too young to be dealing with a grieving, rebellious kid alone."

He can't help snorting. "How old are _you_? Don't act like you're some grownup with everything figured out."

"Not everything," she says. She tucks her hair back behind her ear. "I'm twenty-four," she says. "And I'm not trying to lecture you on how to live your life, Bellamy. But I'm not here to solve your personal problems either. I'm here to make sure your sister is taken care of. And whatever's happening right now? It's not working."

He really wants to hate her; he really wants her to be _wrong_.

"Mr. Blake?" says the principal, sticking her head out. They should be on a first-name basis by now too, but he's not in a rush to correct her. He hated Diana Sydney when she was his principal, and he hates her now. "Ms. Griffin? You can come in."

Octavia's in the chair across from Principal Sydney's desk, arms folded over her chest, sunk as low as she can get without sliding out onto the floor. Her lip's bleeding and she has the start of a black eye coming.

"Jesus, O," he breathes. He glares at Principal Sydney. "You didn't even give her a tissue?"

Octavia raises her fist; there's a tissue in it, apparently unused.

He rubs his eyes again. "Octavia--"

"They started it."

"We're going to have to suspend her," says the principal. 

"Suspend her? Come on!" Bellamy says. "How many of them were there?"

"Three," says Octavia, kind of proud. Bellamy's proud too, in spite of himself. "And they were older than me. And boys."

"And you're suspending _her_? What were you expecting her to do? Let them beat the sh--beat her up?"

"They'll be expelled," says the principal. "But violence isn't the way we want our students dealing with their problems, Mr. Blake, and this is far from your sister's first offense. I understand you're upset, but--"

"If someone's violent at her first, what do you expect her to do about it?"

"I believe your sister might have provoked them."

"Then they should have showed some damn restraint," Bellamy mutters.

"How long is the suspension?" asks Clarke. She's always so unflappable, it makes Bellamy want to scream. He doesn't know how people just get calm when they're angry, instead of lashing out, but that's what Clarke does. She's like ice.

"Two days. And the rest of today, obviously."

Bellamy's jaw ticks. That's two days of bringing her to the coffee shop with him, unless he can swap shifts, because Octavia's too young to be home alone, according to CPS. Bellamy had been home alone starting much younger than eleven, but no one ever called the authorities on his mother, so it didn't matter.

It's strange to be discovering, a year after her death, how colossally his mother had failed him. And it's even worse to be told how he's failing to take care of his sister, when he's doing so much more for her than he ever got himself.

The worst part is knowing, even as he does it, that it's not really enough.

"I hope this will be a wake-up call for you, young lady," Principal Sydney is telling Octavia. Octavia glares so hard that Bellamy's amazed the woman doesn't catch fire. "We'll see you back here on Monday morning. On time."

"Fuck, you aren't late for school now, are you?" he asks, once they're outside. "I _drop you off_."

"I wasn't late," says Octavia. "She just has it out for me."

Bellamy rubs his face. He's not convinced she's _wrong_ ; Principal Sydney never liked him either, and he wouldn't be surprised if she's holding a grudge. But Octavia does plenty to deserve her enmity too.

He realizes, belatedly, that Clarke is still around, hovering to the side of the conversation, and he gives her a tired smile. "We're set. Thanks for coming down."

"I was just--" She sets her jaw, like she's making a difficult decision. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"You going to burn the school down while I'm gone?" he asks Octavia.

"You going to blame me if I do?"

"Just pull the fire alarm first. No body count."

"No body count," O agrees, and he jerks his head for Clarke. 

"What's up?"

"I was just wondering--have you thought about getting her a pet?"

Bellamy blinks at her, taken totally by surprise. "A pet?" he asks, blank.

Clarke bites her lip, as if she's still not really sure about this. "When I was around Octavia's age, my parents got divorced. I was pretty pissed about it for a while. My mom got full custody and I loved her, but--I didn't like them being apart, and I would have gone with him, if anyone gave me the choice. It didn't help that my mom moved to a new city where I didn't have any friends--and, yeah. I acted out a lot."

"You?" he asks. "Really?"

She flashes him a smile. "I have hidden depths, shut up. Besides, you've only ever seen me at work. I'm very fun, on a personal level."

"Uh huh."

"I'm trying to help, don't be a dick. I'm just saying, I'd always wanted a pet, and my mom let me get a dog, which really helped. I know it's an additional expense and possibly just more of a pain for you--my mom was rich and we had a huge yard and she didn't have to worry about any of the stuff you're worrying about. But if you think you could make it work, you might want to ask Octavia if she thinks she'd like a pet."

Bellamy stares at her for another second, disbelieving. He knew Clarke was on Octavia's side, but for the first time, he feels like she's on _his_ side, too. "That's the most I've ever heard about you," he says, and then feels creepy, like he's been filing away information about her. Which he hasn't, really. He's just aware that her personal life is not something they discuss often, and if they discussed it more, he'd remember it. "Thanks for the suggestion," he adds, before she can say anything else. "That's not a bad idea."

"Sure," she says. "Are you guys going to be okay? With the suspension."

"Yeah, it's fine," he says. "I've just got shifts at the coffee shop and the restaurant, and they don't mind if O hangs out at one of the tables and gets periodic free drinks."

"Does Octavia mind?"

"It's not her favorite thing," he admits. "But I'm hoping I can guilt-trip her with _you got suspended_ and keep her behaved through the weekend."

Clarke looks at him for another long minute, her serious-decision face again, and then says, "Do you have my cell number?"

"Um, I don't know. I don't think so? Just the work one."

She nods, grabs a pen off the secretary's desk and scribbles on the back of a business card. "If you really need a babysitter, you can call me."

He takes the card with strangely numb fingers. He hasn't gotten anyone's number since his mom died, both because his mom died and because he has a dependent now, and he's had no chance to go out and meet anyone when he's struggling to prove he's capable of being a legal guardian. He knows Clarke's number isn't really like that, but it still feels oddly thrilling. He could text her weird emojis when he's bored on shift. He could just call her up to chat if he wanted to.

"Are you really allowed to do that? Isn't it a conflict of interest?"

She shrugs one shoulder. "Are you going to tell on me?"

"No, no way," he says, stuffing the card into his pocket. "Thanks. Seriously."

"Good luck," she says, and it doesn't sound like a threat. It sounds friendly.

It's a lot to take in, honestly.

"What did she want?" Octavia asks. She's been surprisingly patient; maybe she really feels bad about the suspension.

"She wants to be your new mom. She proposed."

"I asked what _she_ wanted, not what you want."

"I did get her number, so joke's on you." He pauses, but then admits, "She thought you might want to get a dog. You think you want a dog?"

"Are you rewarding me for getting expelled?" she asks, squinting at him. "That feels like a reward. Shitty parenting, Bell."

"It was the social worker's idea. That makes it okay, right?" He rubs the back of his neck. "Apparently she was about your age when her parents got divorced, and getting a dog helped. We could stop by the shelter after work, see if any of them catch your eye. If you want."

"Can we afford a dog?" she asks, voice small, and Bellamy's heart twists up. She _really_ wants a dog.

"Yeah," he lies. "We can afford it. We'll go after work."

He texts Clarke on his break at the coffee shop, which he's allowed to just pick up, thank god. Anya was kind of pissed he had to leave, but she's a remarkably understanding boss, given how angry she is all the time. He's really fucking lucky.

_She's really excited about the dog. Thanks._ And then he adds, _Sorry, this is Bellamy._

O comes over to show him some of the dog options she founds on the shelter's website on her phone, and he doesn't even get to look at his again until his shift is over. When he does, he sees Clarke has responded, _plz send pictures if you get one_ and a smiley emoji, and it makes his whole chest feel warm.

*

One of the Blake family traditions is watching the dog show on Thanksgiving, so Bellamy knows that there are all kinds of dogs in the world, and not all of them look the same. There are tons and tons of different dog breeds, and that's cool. The more dogs in the world, the better, as far as he's concerned.

All that being said, whatever Octavia is holding? That is not a dog.

"Right?" he asks the clerk.

"I dunno, it's in an animal shelter. In the dog section." Bellamy remembers the guy from high school, Murphy. He does not seem concerned that Octavia is holding something that looks like a cross between a koala and a lizard, or that it actually seems to be petting Octavia's hair. Like, with _fingers_. "So it's probably a dog."

"Didn't you put it in there?"

"Looks more like a dog than a cat."

"It doesn't look like either."

"I'm gonna name him Jasper," says Octavia.

"Seriously?" Bellamy asks. "What happened to all those dogs you saw on the website? The ones that looked like actual dogs?" The-- _animal_ is _licking its eye_. That is not a thing dogs can do. It's definitely not. "We could get one of them."

"He already has a _name_ , Bell. We're getting this one. He's the best one."

The thing emits a garbled series of noises that in no way resembles any noise any dog has made, ever. 

But O really likes it.

"How much?" he asks Murphy, and Octavia pays and signs the paperwork herself.

He takes a picture of the two of them, the dog having climbed on top of Octavia's head so he can look around once they get outside, and sends it to Clarke with the caption, _Dog??????????_ and then another message that is just like twenty more question marks, because what the fuck.

"Do you think it eats dog food?" he asks, and O has the decency to look sheepish.

"Probably not," she admits.

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of."

Clarke texts back _what the fuck_ while they're at the grocery store, buying dog food, and also some cat food, and just some cheap raw meat, because why not; Bellamy responds with more question marks, and then adds, _She named it Jasper_.

_good luck with that_ , says Clarke, and he assumes they're going to need it.

*

He switches his Thursday shift for Echo's Saturday one, so he, Octavia, and Jasper have a full day to settle in.

By ten a.m., he's ready to return the goddamn not-dog to the shelter. 

"You're not even trying!" Octavia shouts at him.

" _I'm_ not trying?" he demands. "I'm not the one who _ate the toaster_."

Jasper lets out another string of garbled noises and coughs up some component of the toaster. Octavia wraps her arms around him, defensive. "We adopted him, that means he's _ours_ , right? No matter how bad he gets? We took him. We can't just bring him back because he's--" Her arms tighten on Jasper. "That's not how it works, right? No matter how bad he gets. Our family, our responsibility." 

It's the kind of statement Bellamy really doesn't want to agree with, because Jasper is--well, it's still unclear what Jasper is, which is a large part of the problem. But whatever he is, Octavia has clearly latched onto him on some profound level, and if Bellamy rejects the fucking koala lizard, he will also be rejecting his sister, and if he does that, then it's all over.

"Our family, our responsibility," he agrees. "But we need to figure out some ground rules, okay?"

They spend a few hours googling pet discipline techniques, and discover that while Jasper does not respond well to almost anything, he does, at least, hate the spray bottle full of water, so that's one way they can attempt to discipline him. And he likes both cat and dog food, can included, which simplifies things. Way less recycling.

"If anyone asks, he's a dog," Bellamy tells O, when they're walking over to the stupid tourist trap restaurant where he picks up a few shifts a week. Usually, O hangs out on his phone or does homework in the back while he works, but she refused to leave the dog behind, because the restaurant is outside and they can hang out and still be in Bellamy's line of sight. Bellamy wouldn't have agreed, except that he's more afraid of leaving Jasper at home unsupervised than he is of bringing him. They cannot afford to replace all their appliances. At least toasters are cheap.

"We can't prove he's not a dog," Octavia says.

Jasper has put most of his hind legs into his mouth, making him roughly spherical, and is rolling along beside them.

"I'm pretty sure we can. Just--spray him if he tries to attack anyone or eat anything he's not allowed to eat, okay?"

"We talked about his anger issues," Octavia says. "I think we're starting to make progress."

"Great," Bellamy mutters, but--it's better than _not_ progress, broadly speaking.

It's a weird night, no surprise. The tourists are particularly bizarre, he keeps getting distracted worrying that Octavia and Jasper are going to destroy the place, and then, to make everything worse, Clarke shows up.

"What are you doing here?" he asks. He might be hallucinating her. He wouldn't put it past himself at this point.

She glances over her shoulder, looking unhappy. "My mom and her boyfriend came for a surprise visit. Apparently every time she asks if she can come see me, I say I'm busy, so she decided to surprise me."

"Wow. That's one hell of a surprise."

"Yeah, it's the best. Definitely not awkward at all." She smiles at him, and it does weird things to his chest. "Have you decided what your new pet is yet?"

"I'm going with koala lizard," he says. "It's in the back with O, if you want to try to use it to scare your mom off."

She laughs, ducking her head with it, and Bellamy feels like about the coolest person ever to have lived. "You know, after a few drinks, I just might take you up on that."

"Just let me know, yeah."

She nods, smiles a little. "Will do. Anyway, I better get back, I just thought it would be weird if I didn't say hi. So--hi."

"Hi. You can tell them to seat you in my section if you want. And if you don't want, I won't be offended. Up to you."

"Cool," says Clarke. "I'll see what I can do."

She does get seated in her section, and when he goes to take their orders, she says, "Here's Bellamy now," like she's been telling them about him. She does introductions, and it's nice and weird all at the same time. He's once again acutely aware of how little he knows about Clarke, really, which wouldn't bother him, except that she knows _everything_ about him. His entire life has been laid out for her, in excruciating detail. She knows when his mother got sick, when he dropped out of college to take care of her, when she died, when he lost the decent job he had that let him get custody of O in the first place because the company went bankrupt, and all of the other horrible misadventures that have led him here, trying to hold down three jobs and not lose his sister.

All he knows about her is that she's twenty-four and her parents are divorced, and he only learned that in the last twenty-four hours.

He suspected she wasn't a Hawaii native, but he has no idea where she is from, or why she decided to come here. He thinks she went to Tufts for some part of her schooling, because there's a mug in her office, but he doesn't know if it was undergrad or graduate or if she just got the mug for a gift.

Not that he has to know anything about her. They're not friends. She's still potentially going to take his sister away. He should, by all rights, not care about her at all.

Maybe if he tells himself that enough, he'll start believing it.

He's bringing entrees to the weird tourist couple who seem to think it's Halloween when the fire starts.

As fires go, it's pretty minor, really not bad at all, but unfortunately there's only so good a fire can be. At the end of the day, it's still a fire, it was still clearly Octavia and Jasper's fault, and Bellamy still loses his job. He can't really argue with it. Dragging his sister along to his shift is already questionable; once she starts damaging property, it's all over.

"I'm sorry," she mutters. She looks like she's been crying.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. He saw something and freaked out. I tried to stop him, but--" She looks at Jasper, who seems fairly contrite, at least. "I'm sorry," she says again.

He puts his arm around her shoulders. "It was a shitty job anyway. Tourists don't know how to tip."

"Clarke was there," she says, soft, and Bellamy squeezes her. "She's going to know."

"She was going to find out anyway," he says. "Keeping her informed about my employment status is kind of a thing. It's fine, I'll see if I can pick up more hours at the bar."

"I can't come to the bar."

"Raven doesn't mind babysitting, when she's free." He sighs. "It's fine. I'll figure something out. Clarke said she'd babysit too."

"Is she allowed to do that?"

"I'm not going to stop her."

"What if she's spying? To try to prove you can't take care of me? What if she just wants to get into our house so she can betray us?"

"I think she's on our side."

"You think she's cute," says O, somewhat petulant.

"What, I can't think both?" He sighs. "You'd be okay with that, right? Just in emergencies? It's not my first choice either, but if she's willing to help, we should take her up on it. We need all the help we can get."

"I don't mind," O says, finally. "I like Clarke. She's way better than Mr. Wallace."

Bellamy has to smile; their first social worker never did anything _wrong_ , he was just creepy and patronizing and always seemed like he had it in for both of them. Even aside from being cute, Clarke is a huge improvement.

She calls at ten, surprising him. He doesn't get a lot of calls.

"Hey," he says.

"Hi. Just got my mom and Thelonious to their hotel. Are you guys okay? The fire didn't--"

"It was a very small fire."

He hears her small snort of laughter. "So, you're okay."

"Yeah." He pauses. "I did lose the job."

"I figured. I'm sorry."

"It didn't pay that well anyway," he says. It's not like she doesn't know. "No one tipped well enough to get it up much past minimum wage."

"Yeah, but they let you bring Octavia."

"They did," he agrees, flopping back onto his bed and closing his eyes. "Do you think I'm the best person to have her?" he asks, soft. "Do you think she'd be better off somewhere else?"

"No," says Clarke, just as soft. "I think she'd be a nightmare anywhere else. I think she'd run away and go back to you, or just--implode. I think you guys are better together."

He exhales slowly. "Did you just decide that? Is that why--"

"Why I'm helping you?"

"Well, is it?"

She doesn't reply for a long time, but Bellamy kind of likes it, lying in the dark, knowing Clarke is going to say something. Hearing her soft breathing over the phone line. "I started thinking about what it would mean. If this was your last chance and you--lost her. I'd still be assigned to her, unless they sent her out of state. I thought about what it would be like, seeing her without you. How much of a disaster it would be. And I couldn't even imagine what it would be like for you. I meant it, that what you guys are doing right now isn't working. But--I don't want to be the one that takes her away, and I don't think anyone else should do it either. So, yeah. I want to help."

"So, like, on a scale from one to ten, how unethical is this for you?"

She laughs, soft. "Like three. I haven't really done anything so far, except give you my number and tell you to get a dog. Which might have done more harm than good, honestly."

"Yeah, thanks for that." He worries his lip. "But, uh, really. Thanks."

"Any time. Get some sleep, Bellamy."

*

The next few days are surprisingly okay, all things considered. Bellamy is pretty sure Jasper is actually learning to _talk_ , which--what the fuck did his sister even _find_ , and why did anyone think it was a dog? He doesn't care how stoned Murphy was, there is no excuse. But Octavia is getting better at communicating with him, and she does seem happier, even if Jasper is kind of destructive and bizarre most of the time. 

"He's kind of cute, if you squint," he tells Clarke on the phone Sunday night, watching Jasper and Octavia playing some game of their own devising with a deck of cards and some of Bellamy's old Power Rangers action figures. He's not going to ask. 

"How hard do you have to squint?" Clarke asks, sounding amused.

Talking to Clarke regularly might also be improving his mood. He's pretty sure dating him is outside the realm of valid acceptable behavior for his social worker, but he can always get another social worker. And if he had a girlfriend who was willing to help out with Octavia, his life would really get a lot better. He'd have a better relationship with his next social worker. And his current social worker, obviously.

Not that he's getting ahead of himself or anything.

"I'll let you know if I ever figure it out," he says.

"What's the plan for him when Octavia's at school? She's back tomorrow, right?"

"I think I just sit him down and have a talk with him about what he can and cannot eat. That's legit, right?"

"Yeah, that's definitely something a sane person in control of all his mental facilities would say."

"That's what I thought. Think I can get him registered as a therapy animal?"

"The first hurdle is honestly getting him registered as an animal."

Bellamy snorts. "True. I don't know what we'll do with him. He's really attached to O, but she has enough trouble not picking fights without him. I think he's a bad influence."

"I think he's probably helping."

"I appreciate your optimism."

"Just keep me posted."

"In an official or unofficial capacity?"

"If you tell me anything that makes me concerned for Octavia's safety, it's official. Until then, we're good."

"Cool." He drums his fingers on the table, and Octavia makes a face at him that he's pretty sure means _your crush is pathetic and I'm judging you_. Or maybe he's projecting. "How's your mom? Is she still here?"

"Until Tuesday, yeah," says Clarke, heaving an enormous sigh. "Thelonious at least has a conference, so she had a real excuse. But she could have warned me. I could have been busy."

"How far is it for her?"

"They're in DC."

"Is that where you're from?"

Octavia and Jasper are both watching him intently now, like his inept flirting is the most interesting thing they've ever seen. He makes a token attempt to bat them off, and then retreats to the kitchen for some amount of privacy.

"Not exactly," she says. "I grew up in California, Mom moved to DC after the divorce, started getting involved with politics and politicians. I left as soon as I could."

"Not a fan?"

"It's all so slimy," she says. "I felt like I had to take a shower every time I talked to one of her colleagues."

"I guess Hawaii is pretty far from that."

"Plus I'm an excellent surfer."

He laughs. "Yeah?"

"I don't like to brag about it."

"We should go out sometime," he says, and then winces. Octavia and Jasper have reappeared in the kitchen door; Octavia is gagging and Jasper is pretending to resuscitate her.

He will definitely murder both of them.

"You know, surfing," he adds quickly. "I want to see your moves."

"Obviously," she says, like she knows exactly what he was thinking. But then she adds, "Maybe Wednesday or Thursday, after school. I'll check my schedule," so he can't be too upset about it.

"Cool. Talk to you later."

"Bellamy's gonna get maaaaaarried," Octavia croons, and Jasper echoes, "Maaaaaarried." Like, for sure. He is not hallucinating this.

"Are we ever gonna discuss that your dog is learning to talk?" he asks.

"Are we ever gonna discuss that you want to marry our social worker?"

"So, no," he agrees. "Cool."

*

Jasper is not enthused about letting Octavia go to school alone, to the extent that he actually clings to her leg and snaps at Bellamy when he tries to pry them apart.

"He doesn't like being alone, Bell!" she says.

"He's going to have to learn," Bellamy mutters, but it seems like too much trouble to figure out right this minute. Jasper seems genuinely freaked out. "Fine. If he doesn't want to be alone, he can hang out with me. As long as he doesn't burn down the coffee shop. Anya doesn't mind having pets in there, as long as they behave." He eyes Jasper. "Is your English good enough to know what behaving means?"

Jasper licks his eye, which is not helpful.

"Great."

Octavia gives him an impulsive hug, which makes him feel a little better. It's been a long time since his sister hugged him for no reason, just because she was grateful for him.

It's been a rough few years, even before their mom died.

"Go to school, O," he says, gruff. "And no fighting, okay? You need to come home and take care of Jasper."

Octavia smiles a little. "So, this is gonna be your thing now? Using Jasper to make me behave?"

"Why do you think I got you the dog?" Bellamy asks, unrepentant, and Octavia just grins.

When they get to the coffee shop, Anya gives them one look and says, "What is that?"

Jasper had come in on his Friday and Saturday shifts, but those are Anya's days off, so the two haven't met yet. He probably should have warned her, not that he has any idea what he would have said.

"Dog," he says.

"Dog," Anya repeats, flat.

"That's what the guy at the shelter said."

"Hi," says Jasper, waving. Bellamy glares at him, and he sticks his hand behind his back.

"I think they may have deceived you," Anya says.

"No, I pretty much figured it out. But Octavia got attached, so--" He shrugs. "You gonna kick him out? Because I really don't feel okay leaving him alone in my house."

"Does he drink coffee?" Anya asks, after a distressingly long pause, and Bellamy can't hold back a full-body shudder at the idea of an over-caffeinated Jasper.

"Let's not find out."

It doesn't actually go that badly, though. Bellamy stopped on the way to work to buy a giant sudoku book, explained it to Jasper, and set him loose on it, and it actually does hold his attention. The customers seem to think the best way of dealing with him is pretending they don't see him, as a bonus; Bellamy thinks they're probably right, all things considered.

Octavia makes Jasper an activity pack for Tuesday, which is honestly really cute, and he spends most of the day fighting with a giant Rubix Cube with like fifteen sides that someone gave Bellamy for his thirteenth birthday.

He doesn't have work on Wednesday, so he and Jasper just watch TV and bicker until Octavia gets home, and then they head down to the beach so they can go surfing with Clarke.

Even leaving aside that Clarke is wearing a fucking _bikini_ , it's a great day. Bellamy hadn't quite realized how busy he'd been, how little time he'd been able to make to just chill out with his sister. If they didn't have the not-dog, he probably would have been out looking for new jobs all day, dragging O around with him, and--he still needs to do that, eventually. But it's still broadly nice to just take a few days to relax and hang out.

"I've been kind of shitty lately, huh?" he asks her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"Nah," says O, and sounds like she means it. "No more than usual." She hugs him back, a quick squeeze. "It's been a shitty time."

"Looking up though, right?" he asks, and she snorts and shoves him off.

"You just think you're gonna get laid."

Of course, he doesn't _just_ think that. But he does kind of think it, a little. It's been a long time since he was interested in someone, _really_ interested, in more than just a few hours of fun, or a night, if he could get it. But Clarke is vibrant, laughing with O, throwing him smiles, and he's basically gone. He wants her, wants everything, nights hanging out on the couch with her feet in his lap, texting her when he doesn't know how to deal with his life, waking up with her in his arms when Octavia and Jasper destroy something.

It's a dangerous, stupid way to feel, even without all the ethical concerns tied up in trying to pick up the social worker assigned to his case, but it's hard to feel that way in the moment. It's just such a fucking _good day_.

So, of course, on Thursday, Octavia disappears.

He doesn't notice it at first. He's on shift at the coffee shop, and she's supposed to come by after school, as usual, and he just assumes she will. They've been good, this last week. On the same side again.

There's a minor rush at three, and he doesn't realize until it's cleared up that Octavia isn't there like she should be. Jasper is sitting at his regular table playing Tetris on their old Gameboy, and Bellamy gets Raven to cover the register so he can check in.

"Where's O?"

Jasper shrugs.

"She hasn't come in? It's late, she should be here."

That gets Jasper's attention, and he turns off the Gameboy to look around, clearly concerned. He shrugs again, and Bellamy swears under his breath. They were doing so fucking _well_ ; if she's at school picking fights, he's going to murder her.

"Raven, tell Anya I had a family emergency!" he calls over his shoulder.

"You're going to get fired!" Raven calls back, but in a friendly way.

"I know!"

He calls Clarke on his way to the school. "O didn't come to the coffee shop after school," he says, by way of greeting. "I don't care if it's in an official or unofficial capacity, I need help looking for her."

"Where are you?"

"On my way to the school."

"Okay, I'll meet you there," she says, and Bellamy nearly tells her he loves her, out of general relief, but she mercifully hangs up before he can say anything else.

That's the end of his good luck, though, because he's halfway to the school, running hard, when the alien shows up.

In retrospect, he'll wonder why he immediately identifies _this_ creature as an alien, but it never occurred to him as an explanation for Jasper. He decides Star Trek is probably to blame, in the end; he's used to humanoid aliens who look like people in makeup, not weird little koala lizards.

"This is getting ridiculous," says the alien, and Bellamy is surprised to find himself agreeing. "You, 100," it adds, jerking its head at Jasper. "Turn yourself over and nothing will happen to the native."

"The native?" Bellamy snaps, because, god, the last thing he wants to deal with is racist aliens.

But Jasper says, "Where is she?" and his stomach drops when he realizes that he's not the native.

Octavia is.

"You--" Bellamy starts, but the alien ignores him.

"I have her," he tells Jasper. "She's safe."

"Where?" Bellamy demands, surging in to grab the alien, but one big hand shoots out to shove him away, like it's batting down a fly.

He lands hard, and he's still trying to pick himself up and do something useful when Jasper says, soft, "Trade?"

"Trade," says the alien, and Jasper goes willingly.

*

He texts Clarke, _Aliens are involved now??? I don't even fucking know. Going after them, I guess._

She calls back immediately, which is probably fair. If he got a text about aliens, he'd probably upgrade it to a phone call too.

"Jasper traded himself to this alien for Octavia? But she'll definitely kill me if I let her alien dog go, so--"

"Where are you?" Clarke asks. Bellamy gives her the cross street, and all she says is, "I'll be there in three minutes, don't leave without me."

He's not sure if it's good or bad that her reaction to his telling her he's got an alien problem is _be right there_ ; on the one hand, he appreciates the backup. On the other, it would be nice if _someone_ told him this wasn't happening, but apparently it's not going to be Clarke who does it.

She makes it to him in under two minutes, parks her car and sits down next to him on the side of the road. "Aliens?"

"Or monsters, I guess, but I got an alien vibe. Something fucked up, for sure." He runs his hand through his hair. "They've got O, which--at least she didn't run away, I guess. And Jasper's supposed to be trading himself for her. Probably that'll work. I don't know why aliens would want my sister. I can kind of see why they'd want my dog."

"What did they look like?"

Bellamy blinks at her, but she looks serious. Worried, even. "Uh, there was just one, I guess. Big? Strong. Kind of blueish. Tentacles for legs."

Clarke nods, as if she was really invested in this answer. "Okay, so--which way did they go?"

"You're just buying this?" Bellamy asks, squinting at her. "You're not going to tell me I had a psychotic break because of stress or something?"

She stands up and offers her hand, and he lets her pull him up. "My parents got divorced because my dad exposed me to aliens," she says, like this is not a big deal.

"So I'm having a psychotic break," he says. "Cool. I'm amazed it took this long."

"Seriously. He's, like--Men In Black, without the mind-wiping. He got recruited out of college." She glances over her shoulder at him. "I'm not lying. And you're not having a psychotic break. I helped broker an intergalactic peace treaty when I was twelve. I convinced all these aliens that mosquitoes were an endangered species vital to the solar system's balance and humans were required as a food source. They tried to recruit me out of college too, but--" She shrugs. "I like kids."

"That sounds a lot like lying."

"I know." She grins, and he really wants to believe her. It seems plausible, just because Clarke already feels unreal most of the time. If anyone has a history of dealing with extraterrestrial politics, it's got to be her. "But I'm not. I sort of wondered if Jasper was--something. But I didn't think you guys were in any danger." She rubs her face. "I'm sorry. I should have told you I knew--"

"Aliens are real?"

"They're not supposed to come here. I figured he could just be a mutant. And I didn't want to freak you out. I figure at this point, you're already freaked out."

"Oh, no, I'm way past freaked out. I'm on a whole new level. It's cool." He wets his lips. "So, you're good with aliens, huh? Can you get my sister back?"

"Only one way to find out," she says. "We've got this. Don't worry."

Weirdly, he almost believes her.

He's still not really ready for the sight that greets them when they hit the beach by his house. There's a fucking _spaceship_ in the water, and a bunch more aliens. Octavia's there, behind Jasper, flanked by a couple other aliens--ones he fucking _recognizes_ from the restaurant, that weird Halloween couple, what the _fuck_. The one who did the trade with Jasper has a gun pointed at them, with another one wearing what looks like a uniform between them, like it's mediating.

"Oh, good," says Clarke. "I know him."

"You _know him_?" asks Bellamy. "Seriously, we have got to sit down and talk about your fucked up life sometime soon."

"Any time," she says, and then yells, "Admiral Kane, what are you doing here? We agreed Earth was off limits!"

The alien in uniform blinks three sets of eyes at Clarke. "You are--"

"Clarke Griffin," she says. "We met twelve years ago."

"You've become larger."

"Puberty."

He frowns. Maybe. Bellamy thinks his face does something. "Is that a surgical procedure?"

"Your people have an Earth citizen," Clarke says, cool as ever. "Why? You aren't even supposed to be on Earth."

Bellamy tries to picture it for a minute--Clarke, twelve years old, calm and composed like she always is in a crisis, staring down a six-eyed alien twice her size--and feels a swell of stupid affection. But he has more important things to think about than Clarke's fucked up childhood, so he puts his hand on her back, just for a second, checking in, and then goes to Octavia.

"You okay?" he asks, low.

"They want to take Jasper," she spits. "They're not taking him. He's ours."

"I don't know why you want him," one of the aliens mutters, and the other--elbows it? It uses some part of what looks like its arm to interact with the other one's chest. 

"He's my _friend_ ," say Octavia and the other alien at the same time, and they exchange a look of camaraderie.

"Please don't bond with any more aliens, O," Bellamy mutters. "We've got enough aliens."

"Why does Clarke know them, anyway?" Octavia asks.

"Apparently it's her dad's job."

"Wow. Your girlfriend is awesome."

"Right?" He glances at the alien who said he didn't want Jasper either; Bellamy feels like they can relate. "Who are you guys and who's Jasper?"

"Failed experiment," says the alien. "I'm Miller, I was supposed to track him down. But someone decided to go rogue."

"He made a really good argument!" the other alien protests. "And he's not a _failure_. He's my friend." He smiles at Bellamy. Probably. "I'm Monty."

"And that guy is an admiral," Bellamy says. The six-eyed alien is still talking to Clarke, Clarke quoting some sort of treaty while the alien tries to argue they have jurisdiction here.

"He might be a fugitive," says Miller.

"Jesus," Bellamy says, rubbing his face. "We couldn't have gotten a golden retriever?"

"Shh," Octavia hisses, waving her hand at him. "I'm trying to listen."

Bellamy puts his focus back on the argument, a little torn. O seems set and fairly safe, whereas the alien who shoved him before looks like it's thinking about murdering Clarke. But the admiral guy seems to outrank it, and the admiral is still listening to Clarke.

"Fugitive 100--"

"Jasper," says Jasper, and Admiral Kane frowns again.

"Jasper is not under Earth jurisdiction," he says. "It is unfortunate that it came here and threatened the mosquito's habitat, but the treaty does not apply. Earth has no claims to ownership of--"

"I own him," Octavia says, and everyone turns to look at her. She doesn't flinch, and Bellamy feels a surge of pride. He's only had custody of O for a year, but he's been looking after her since she was born, and even though it's been rocky, she's a strong kid and she's going to turn out awesome.

"Excuse me?" says Admiral Kane.

"I bought him. Fair and square." She glances at Bellamy. "You have the paper, right?"

"Yeah," he says. "We bought him. Octavia paid. Do you have documentation showing he's yours?"

"This is--" starts the big alien, and Admiral Kane holds up his hand. 

"Do you take responsibility for him?"

"Sure," says Bellamy. "Why not?"

Kane does not look amused. Or maybe he does. Bellamy should stop projecting his own emotions onto a fucking alien. How's he supposed to know? "Exper--Jasper is a dangerous creature."

"He's fine," says Monty. "He's doing really well. I'm honestly impressed."

"It's my family," says Jasper, helpful. "My responsibility."

"Family," says Clarke, giving Kane her most professional smile. "Our jurisdiction."

*

The next few hours are weird in a much more mundane way. Obviously, aliens are still involved, but it's mostly a lot of paperwork and Clarke on the phone with her dad, explaining what she's doing and why. It's kind of like adopting O, but with more tentacles. 

He somehow ends up agreeing to keep Monty and Miller too, because Jasper and Monty are a package deal, and Miller seems fond of Monty, and, honestly, Bellamy doesn't even mind that much. They're both adults, and he sort of likes them. Miller's really sarcastic, and Monty says he can make them a better toaster, to replace the one Jasper ate.

"They can babysit, right? They count as people who can watch Octavia when I'm at work?" he asks Clarke, once Kane and the other alien have taken off and it's just--his family. Him, his sister, their koala lizard alien, their mad scientist, and their Miller.

And Clarke.

She bumps her shoulder against his. "I think you're in the clear, actually."

"In the clear?"

"Not that I'm objecting to you having more help around the house, you need it. But your family unit is protected as part of this agreement. My dad's pulling some strings to make sure everything looks legal and normal, but, yeah. No more social workers breathing down your neck making sure your sister is set."

Bellamy's breath catches, because--that's great, but also kind of terrifying. His sister might not be set. It seems like a lot to hope for, that adopting some random aliens is enough to completely revitalize their family. "Yeah?" he asks.

She nods, expression thoughtful. "I'm not really sure I approve, honestly. You're great and I know you're doing your best, but it's probably going to be rocky for a while."

"No kidding," he says.

"You could use a social worker around," she continues. "Someone to talk to about this stuff and ask questions and help out with--all this shit. And take out to dinner."

Bellamy feels a smile growing on his face. "Take out to dinner?" he asks. "I've never taken a social worker out to dinner."

"Really? That's totally standard. People do it all the time."

"Sounds kind of unethical."

"I guess. If they have any control over your family situation."

"But if they don't it's fine."

"I think probably, yeah. Then it's just--"

Octavia and Jasper helping Monty and Miller unpack, which mostly means they're running around an actual spaceship, breaking shit. He and Clarke are pretty much alone, and she's leaning against his shoulder a little.

It's been a long, surreal, amazing day, and he really, really owes her.

So it's easy to lean over and press his mouth against hers, a soft, question of a kiss, almost a thank you. Her hand comes up to cup his cheek, and it's a sweet, perfect moment for all of five seconds.

Then there's a crash and an explosion. It sounds like a small explosion, at least, and what does it say about Bellamy's life that he can gauge the size of explosions by sound now? How did this happen?

"It's a really good thing social services isn't coming around anymore," he says, and Clarke laughs into his neck.

"Just me," she agrees.

"Just you," he says, and kisses her one more time, quick. "Want to go check it out?"

"Not really," she says, but she follows him anyway. "But it's our job, right?"

It's not quite as good as kissing her, or at least not the same kind of good. But Bellamy can't remember the last time he had anyone to share this with, really _share_.

"Our family, our responsibility," he agrees, even though it feels too soon.

But she just slips her hand into his and squeezes, and he squeezes back and leads her out of the house and into the chaos that is their new life.


End file.
